the creative downturn

i am creative. i am bright. i am resourceful. and i am unemployed.

i'm not alone, am i?

i moved from the country to the city about three months ago in hopes of finding a broader range of creative input. this part has proven true. while i haven't found a place to go everyday from 9 to 5 (at least not a place that will pay me), i've found that stimuli i was searching for. the hard part now, i suppose, is finding some way to put all the pieces together.

before i continue on my pity party, i should probably clarify that i'm not entirely "unemployed." i work as a freelance graphic designer. i like what i do, but right now, this path is very isolated. i want a group of like-minded people to work with. earlier today, i was working from home, growing completely frustrated with a project. photoshop kept freezing on me. i was distracted by my gmail inbox, waiting for an email from one of the many jobs@ourcompany.com addresses i'd sent my resume to. so i plugged some interpol in my ears and went for a run. i sprinted for about 10 minutes. then jogged for another five. ran up a lot hills. push ups. wall sits. tv watchers. and somehow the sweat knocked some sense into me.

when i got home, i started talking to my roommate about my frustration. throughout the conversation, i realized that (1) my path has never been a straight line. (2) finding a "career," an "occupation" isn't going to be a stay-between-the-lines journey either. (3) as a creative person, i have a responsibility to find a new way to make a living.

who's with me?

i hope to find a little support group of other creative minds, who are also looking for new solutions to this old problem, this economic downturn. creativity, i think, might be the solution.